NEW YORK, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ — As today’s elementary teachers must place more emphasis on state-tested subjects like reading, mathematics and science, they have less time to teach social studies. To help teachers incorporate this important subject into their lesson plans more effectively, Macmillan/McGraw-Hill has developed Timelinks, a new social studies program for Grades K-6 that offers a focused, engaging curriculum while incorporating reading and writing instruction.

Developed by an author team of leading social studies and reading experts, Timelinks features standards-based content with strong integrated reading, writing and social studies skills based on the latest research, field study and teacher input.

“We listened to what teachers had to say about the challenges of teaching elementary social studies curriculum in today’s classroom,” said Steven McClung, president of McGraw-Hill School Solutions Group, which includes Macmillan/McGraw-Hill. “Many of these teachers corroborated findings of a 2007 Center on Education Policy report – that a third of elementary school districts were cutting back on time for social studies.

“As a result, Timelinks includes the most important social studies content and incorporates language arts skill building into the curriculum. This way, teachers can develop their students’ skills for high-stakes testing while providing social studies instruction.”

Skill building across subjects

Students practice their reading and writing skills throughout Timelinks with writing activities linked to lesson content. Graphic organizers help guide students as they develop these skills.

Timelinks also offers an innovative format for differentiated instruction through high-interest leveled readers. Instead of different topics for each level of reader, Timelinks provides three levels on the same topic, streamlining the social studies lesson while building the reading skills of all students. Teachers can easily manage this approach using a single multilevel lesson plan.

Engaging, easy to follow content

Each unit in Timelinks begins with a Big Idea to help students think critically and link historical content to their lives. Primary sources promote a deeper understanding of a lesson by presenting additional information from a historical figure “in their own words” to make history come alive.

Careful text design delivers information in a concise format by organizing information into meaningful parts using bulleted lists, color-coding and considerate text. Consistent elements throughout the program help all students, including English Language Learners, grasp themes and overall content.

Scalable materials

Because of its streamlined content, Timelinks features smaller, more manageable textbooks and offers a variety of print and digital materials to fit the program to different time allocations and social studies approaches. These materials, including workbooks, vocabulary cards, atlases, multimedia DVDs, audio CDs, video and more, allow teachers to scale their lessons according to time allotted for socials studies instruction.

Visit http://www.macmillanmh.com/socialstudies for more information about Macmillan/McGraw-Hill’s new program, Timelinks.

About Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill is part of McGraw-Hill School Solutions Group (MHSSG). The group combines Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, which focuses on Grades PreK-6, and Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, which serves Grades 6-12. MHSSG is the only major educational publishing business to provide a comprehensive approach to the development of print and digital instructional materials from pre- kindergarten through high school.

About McGraw-Hill Education

McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies , is a leading global provider of instructional, assessment and reference solutions that empower professionals and students of all ages. McGraw-Hill Education has offices in 33 countries and publishes in more than 40 languages. Additional information is available at http://www.mheducation.com/.